Resident Evil: The Bane Virus
by Baneff18
Summary: Umbrella is gone, but something of it has remained. Now, a test subject that escaped before the Raccoon incident has gotten caught up in another catastrophe. They thought he'd come quietly, that he had nothing to fight for, but they were wrong.
1. Prologue

I suppose that I should at least give a little bit of information up here so people aren't completely lost or confused as they read through this story.

First of all I should say that I am more used to write original stories than fanfics, just cause with originals you create the rules regarding that universe, whereas the video game created the universal rules of Resident Evil and whatnot.

Second, this story is centered around many of my own characters, and also includes the surviving RE characters, though some of them may possibly seem to be out of character. If this is the case, there could possibly be a good explanation for it, or I made a mistake. Either way, if you notice anything like that feel free to let me know and I'll see if I can't fix it.

Lastly, this is the third or fourth draft of this story, and I still haven't completely decided on some things that are going to happen. For example, my previous drafts were begun before the release of RE4, and therefore still had Umbrella as a powerful company that got away with what they had done to Raccoon City. Now, however, I'm trying to fit the death of Umbrella into the story but am having a hard time doing so.

Anyways, I guess that's really everything I need to go over… oh, one more thing. Obviously this story follows the storylines created by the games as opposed to the movies or books, though I am considering throwing in the Exeter, Maine STARS members introduced in the second RE book, Caliban Cove. Also, I am not going to really include the characters or events unique to RE: Survivor, RE: Gaiden, or RE: Dead Aim, though I may have someone mention, briefly, something about those games. I am not including them because I have no knowledge of the first two games, and I really don't like the characters in Dead Aim much.

Anyway, I think that's everything, plus this has gotten a little long, so I'll just let you all get on with the story.

**Resident Evil:**

**The Bane Virus**

**Welcome to the Nightmare**

Prologue

He remembered, remembered everything. He could still feel the leaves and twigs snapping beneath his bare feet as he ran, ran from the nightmare. The wind howled in his ears as it roared through the trees around him.

Yet he didn't remember the screams, or the barking of the dogs, the screech of a train on it's tracks, or the whirring of helicopter blades above the trees.

He looked around as, once again, he was running through the trees. He saw other figures running through the shadows, catching glimpses of a woman in a blue uniform wearing a beret and a blonde man wearing sunglasses even in the middle of the night running towards him, in the direction that he was running from. He looked above and saw a helicopter fly low over the trees, trying to escape something that he couldn't see.

"NO!" he screamed, stopping and trying to get their attention, "No! Not that way! Don't go that way!"

Suddenly his sight went blurry, and his head started to spin. He shut his eyes, waiting until the feeling stopped, then opened them to new surroundings. He stood upon a cold metal walkway, ladders at either end, one going up the other down. To his left his attention was drawn towards a beautiful young woman in shorts and a tank top, leveling a magnum at something behind him. He turned and stared at the monstrosity, a large, bulbous eye blinking from the monsters right shoulder, a lead pipe held in one hand. It slowly shuffled past him as the woman unloaded the bullets into its pulpy mass. As he focused on the blonde-haired face that was slowly sliding down the body, his world went blurry again.

When it stopped, he found himself in new surroundings once again. There was the same woman he'd seen in the forest now standing at the controls to a really big machine, looking cold in her tank top and miniskirt. He heard an inhuman roar and turned, seeing a large mass of what looked like bones and decomposed skin with tentacles sprouting from everywhere, slowly making its way towards them. It roared again as a high-pitched whine filled the room and the machine emitted a beam of light entwined with orange and blue bolts of electricity that slammed into the monster, the light getting so bright that he had to shut his eyes to stop the pain.

When he opened his eyes again, he was back in familiar surroundings. But as he looked around, small differences told him that he wasn't where he thought he was. It seemed like the mansion's foyer, but there were differences that nagged at him. His attention was brought to the main stairs as a tall, blonde woman slowly began descending them, moving towards the blonde man that stood at the bottom. As she moved down the steps, her dress seemed to catch on fire, dropping from her as her skin grew grey and pebbly, an odd vein winding its way through her legs and over one shoulder to settle underneath one of her breasts. As she reached the last step, the man reached out to touch her. Casually, she lifted her arm, hitting the man in the face and sending him flying across the room into the far wall. The fight began as everything once again went dark.

He waited for another scene to begin, but instead the darkness brightened just enough for him to see figures standing just in the shadows. A man wearing army camouflage pants with a tattoo coiled around one arm stood beside a young girl wearing a STARS uniform with a white vest. Beside them was two more people, one man one woman, wearing STARS uniforms, a young man wearing an RPD uniform, a woman wearing a red and black leather jacket, a bearded man in a STARS uniform, and another man dressed in army fatigues, his black hair semi-long framing his face. Slowly, they all faded into the darkness, as several more people stepped forward into the half-light. He didn't recognize any of them, but four of them were wearing STARS uniforms with a different logo than the previous ones, and several more just wore regular clothing.

"Who are you?" He yelled to them, trying to understand what his dreams were telling him. The only answer he received was a snarl from a creature that appeared behind the group, nearly eight feet tall with one regular arm and one long, bulky clawed appendage that was raised threateningly over the group of people. As the claw descended everything went black as he began to scream.

"NO!"


	2. Chapter 1

Sorry, I knew that I had forgotten something last chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything that belongs to Capcom, blah blah blah. I do, however own all things original that came out of my screwed up head, and therefore you cannot take them without my permission and whatnot… yeah… something like that.

Anyways on with the story now. This chapter is mostly info, just to set the stage really. It get's better next chapter, I promise.

**Resident Evil: The Bane Virus**

**Chapter 1**

**October 28, 2006 – 06:14**

Bane Stryfe shot up from his makeshift bed, the top mattress sinking slightly as he panted heavily and wiped the cold sweat from his brow and ran a hand through his short, blood-red hair. The images of the nightmare slowly faded from his mind's eye, the last being of those people at the end, swearing that several them almost looked familiar to him.

Shaking his head, he stood from the bed and pulled on his jeans, the dark black denim having faded to a grayish color then put on his sunglasses that his the only sign of his mutations, the glowing red eyes. He stood and looked from the broken window, looking at all the other mostly derelict buildings surrounding the one he lived in. He stared into the bright blue sky, watching the clouds slowly drift by as the sun played hide and seek in them. He knew it wouldn't last, he knew that they would come for him, and he knew that they would destroy the city to do it.

After the incident at Raccoon City, Umbrella had been given an order to desist in all business dealings, at least in the United States. They still tried to sell their products worldwide, but many countries joined the States in banning their products. And yet, somehow, someone managed to spin-off another company from the remains of Umbrella, calling themselves Parasol Enterprises. They promised a return to good old family pharmaceuticals, but kept hidden their extensive military contracts.

The American Government had known they'd need to make an example of a company that would disregard their citizens, but allowed the small company to take it's place, and it's contracts, because they were needed.

Bane knew that it was all bullshit, that the government only wanted the viruses and other biogenic warfare tools that Umbrella had created, and now Parasol had inherited. He knew that Umbrella would never truly die… and that means that he'd never truly be free.

And now the dream… and whatever it would mean. He remembered the faces of the people, and he knew about all of them except for the last one. The others, well, he had read so much on the members of the Raccoon City STARS members, and the several other people who'd helped them escape the tragedies that literally seemed to follow them everywhere.

Even before Umbrella was stopped by the government, they had infected another city, this one in southern Ontario, Canada, where some of the RPD STARS were hiding with their Fenrir Police Department counterparts.

But that didn't matter to him, didn't matter to him at all. He refused to get himself involved with anything to do with Umbrella, Parasol, or these STARS people, he only wanted to live in peace.

_Hmph,_ He scoffed quietly,

* * *

The files were spread out over his desk, all opened to certain events described within. There were eight of them, eight people who'd seemed completely normal, until they were thrown into extraordinary situations. And even then half of them wouldn't have made it without the aid of the others.

He turned away and picked up four more folders, another group of survivors. He shook his head in disgust as he tossed these folders on top of the others, then picked up the last one.

The renegade. That's what a lot of people were calling him these days. He'd survived an attack by the T-002 Tyrant and even lived through an encounter with the beautiful, deadly, deranged Alexia Ashford. He seemed even more resilient than all the others, and he was completely unpredictable. All of the others were taking what they considered to be the 'moral high ground' and attacking Umbrella, and the new Parasol, because it was 'the right thing to do', but this man had his own agenda, one that he refused to share with anyone. Whatever the renegade was planning, he knew that it would spell doom for the newly made company. And what was worse, he knew that there was nothing he could do about it.

Carl Trevor flipped through the file on Albert Wesker one more time, then flung it down onto the pile with the others. Valentine, the Redfields, Kennedy, Oliviera, Chambers… all of the damned survivors of the Raccoon City infection were still out there, somewhere, planning Parasol's downfall like they had with Umbrella. If only he'd been allowed to continue his research, these pathetic little obstacles would have been cut down the instant they'd surfaced.

He stared at the picture of Wesker, wondering if it had been him or his partner William Birkin who'd begun their experiments on his brother and his family. His brother George, the architect of the Spencer Mansion that had once been buried in the heart of Arklay Forest.

He'd never gotten along with his brother much, or the wife or daughter, but they were still family and he was still enraged by what they did to them. Yet still the source of his anger was what Umbrella had taken away from him.

It had been his life's work, the new virus he'd synthesized. The Bane Virus, he'd called it, and it's made him known to the top brass of Umbrella. They'd given him a fortune to test the virus, but no matter what they tried, the test subjects would be killed.

When James Marcus had first created the T-Virus in 1978, Umbrella had begun hiring the most promising young scientists they could find to work on it. Despite his brother's disappearance, Carl had still finished college at the top of his class in Bio-engineering. Umbrella had hired him immediately out of school, giving him a sample of the T-Virus to play with. In five years he had made a breakthrough in the synthesis of a new virus. His wife, who'd previously been his assistant, pushed him to show off his creation before they'd been able to work out all the problems, but he agreed anyway and the two of them were transferred to the Arklay laboratories to continue the work in a small corner lab. It wasn't until many years later he would find out that his brother had faced his doom in that very mansion.

The problem with the new virus was that it would kill the test subject, often in horrifyingly grotesque ways. Initially, the virus would give the subject enhanced physical and mental strength as well as agility, speed, and fortitude. Yet the body would quickly become unstable and could not handle the constant mutations, causing the body to break down in varying ways at very speeds. No matter what they tried, the virus would always come with the same results.

Another three years passed with no luck, but in the meantime his wife had become pregnant with their first child, a boy. One night, several months before she was due, Carl stood over the bed and stared at her sleeping form. An idea hit him then, and he quietly when to the lab to gather the things he needed.

_If the normal human body can't handle the virus's mutations,_ he thought, _what if a body were to have the virus encoded into it's very DNA during it's development?_ Returning to the room he shared with his beautiful wife, he carefully injected her with a mild sedative, then injected the virus carefully into the still-developing fetus.

When he finished he quickly replaced everything back in the lab before returning to his room and laying down beside his sleeping wife, eventually falling asleep as well. Several months passed with no ill effects on the mother or the baby until it came the day of the birth. Complications arose, he'd been told, during the birthing and his wife died as the baby was born, healthy and seemingly mutation free.

Carl pretended to be devastated by the death, but in truth things couldn't have gone better had he planned them. His wife would have just gotten in the way of the experiment and he would have had to gotten rid of her anyways, so this worked out perfectly.

For the first five years, Carl and his team kept a close eye on the boy, whom he had named Bane. They showed their results to the company brass, who gave them more money and procured ten more pregnant women to use as test subjects.

Another five years passed, Bane excelling at everything they'd thrown against him. The other ten, however, were just barely managing not to be an abysmal failure. They were superior to an ordinary child, but according to the boss they just weren't good enough.

It continued for two more years until one night the boss had corner Carl in the hallway, not knowing that Bane was returning to his room after a rigorous day of tests and could hear them around the corner of the hall.

"We're doing the best we can," Carl argued fiercely, "we aren't exactly equipped to be training these children into soldiers."

"Then we'll get someone who is." The boss replied.

"It's only been six years; you can't expect so much of them!"

"Your own boy was a hell of a lot farther along at their age than they are now," the boss told Carl, "Plus the big wigs are worried about your stability… especially after what you did to your own wife!"

"I didn't know that it would kill her!" Carl snapped, "We would have had to get rid of her eventually anyways. She'd have killed me if she found out what I did to our son."

"Shut up!" The boss yelled, tired of Carl's poor arguments, "All of these… mistakes are being disposed of and you are being transferred to Europe. The Bane Virus research will be given to someone else, and you'll be lucky to ever see a test tube again!"

Carl remembered it all as if it were yesterday, but it wasn't until later had he learned that Bane had overheard the conversation. He had watched the security feeds and watched Bane race through the labs and mansion, moving so fast he was almost a blur on the video.

The boy had burst through the mansion doors, sending them flying off the hinges and setting off every alarm in the building. Search parties had been quickly formed and the helicopters were sent out to bring the boy back, but he'd managed to disappear into Raccoon City.

Carl had been transferred several days later, which now he considered a blessing since the Raccoon STARS teams had invaded a mere six months later.

Eight eventless years had passed with him doing nothing but menial work as he searched through every report that had come through Umbrella HQ, and now Parasol HQ. He knew that even though the name had changed, they would never truly stop searching for his son and he knew that all he had to do was wait until he was found, and then he would take him back.

* * *

Rayne Armitage was woken by the sound of Beethoven's Ave Maria playing on his cell phone, feeling oddly drained even after getting a good five hours of sleep. He sat up and grabbed his phone, shutting off the alarm, then clipped the phone to his jeans that he'd slept in and pulled on a black t-shirt he found lying on the ground before leaving his room.

Silently he crept down the stairs, his hand barely gliding down the banister as he made his way into the kitchen where he began making breakfast for himself and his roommate. He reveled in the silence of the morning, despite the fact that only he and his friend lived in the large house and therefore was almost always quiet.

His parent's had been loaded, but unlike most families they didn't flaunt the fact that they had money. They continued to work, and they taught Rayne that he should always, always work for what he wanted, that nothing was ever free.

All the money in the world, however, wouldn't have been enough to save their lives when that car hit theirs. He'd been in the back seat as they were driving home from his soccer game when they were hit side-on by a large semi-truck, killing his parents and nearly killing him.

He lived, however, and inherited all of his parent's money and possessions, including the house that he now lived in. Yet he'd been so lonely after everything that when his friend's family decided to move away but Chelsey didn't want to, he offered to give her a place to live. It'd been three years since then, and they've have had what he would call their share of excitement.

When Chelsey's family moved, her sister Tifa had joined the STARS team in Fenrir, Ontario. Only one year later the remaining members of the Raccoon City STARS teams had sought refuge from Umbrella there, causing Umbrella once again to infect a major city with the hopes that they would be killed in the outbreak. Unfortunately for them, the STARS members survived and gained a number of new recruits in their war against Umbrella. Not to mention the fact that this second infection helped push the American government to can Umbrella and order them to stop all business dealings.

The STARS knew that even then the company would continued after them, so Chelsey and Rayne had suggested they lay low here in Munin, Alberta, a place where it was doubtful that Umbrella would find them. They stayed for about a year and a half before leaving to continue their fight against the newly formed Parasol, leaving Chelsey and Rayne alone once more.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Rayne flipped the pancakes he was making before they burnt, then looked out the window at the ten foot cement wall, a yard and a half wide, that surrounded the entire compound, built at Jill Valentine's request to help protect them should Umbrella, or Parasol, infect the city the same way they'd done before.

A sound on the stairs broke him from his revelries, causing him to look up and see Chelsey slowly coming down the steps, her eyes bleary and red showing that she had little to no sleep during the night.

"Morning Crazy Lady." Rayne said to her as she seated herself at the kitchen table.

"Unfortunately." She grunted, yawning widely.

"Lucky for you… I made pancakes." He told her with a smile, lifting three nicely formed pancakes onto a plate and placing it on the table in front of her along with syrup, butter, and a knife and fork.

"My savior." She said sarcastically as she began to devour the food in front of her.

Rayne was silent as he ate his own breakfast, then stood and cleared the table as Chelsey made several attempts to get to her feet before finally managing it and heading back to her bedroom, resisting the urge to go back to sleep. Instead, she dressed and grabbed her things, then met Rayne at the front door before piling into his car as he drove the both of them to school.

* * *

Bane left the building quietly, aware that these building were no longer considered habitable and people caught living in them would be arrested and charged for trespassing, though he wasn't too worried about that. He knew that if he didn't want them to, the police had no chance of holding him in prison. He shook his head as he thought that, knowing that he never wanted to hurt anyone, never mind the police who actually did some good in the world.

He left the area as quickly as he could without doing anything… inhuman, then decided to head to the high school for the day. He normally spent his days near other people his age, watching them go about their days, enjoying their lives in a way he never truly could.

If he thought long and hard, he could remember almost every bit of his escape from the mansion, starting when he threw the doors off the building to the moment he reached Raccoon city, picking pocket's and stealing credit cards for several days to afford a train ticket away from the city. He never spent more than a month in any one place in the last eight years, until now. He didn't understand what it was, but there was something about this city that made him want to stay here, to maybe be able to start a normal life here.

Clearing his thoughts once again, he continued on his way to the high school, hoping with all his might that he would see that beautiful blonde girl who'd actually spoken to him one day, and hoping that he would be able to talk back this time.


	3. Chapter 2

**Resident Evil: The Bane Virus**

**Chapter 2 **

**October 28, 2006 – 08:21**

Rayne parked in the furthest lot from the school, preferring this nearly empty one to the over-crowded ones closer to the entrances. Together they got out of the car and began to make their way to the main entrance, Rayne staring out over the tops of the other student's heads as if he was trying to find someone.

"Have you seen her yet?" He asked Chelsey, who shook her head slowly as she focused on putting one foot in front of the other without tripping.

"No, not yet. Why? You can usually wait at least until lunch time." She replied groggily.

"No reason really, I just want to see her."

"Dude, you are so whipped." She commented just before they separated to head to their homerooms.

"Dammit." Rayne whispered, pushing his way through the unyielding throng of people to get to his class.

* * *

Bane set the packaged sandwich on the counter beside a bottle of pop, staring patiently at the clerk from behind his sunglasses.

"That'll be $4.78 sir." The clerk told him.

Silently Bane handed him the credit card he'd stolen earlier that morning, nothing on his face belying the fact that the card wasn't his own. The clerk swiped the card, then waited as Bane forged a perfect signature on the receipt then collected the bag his food had gone into and headed to the door.

"Excuse me sir!" The clerk yelled, coming out from behind the counter. Bane idly slid his hand behind his back, under his coat to silently grasp the handle of his Beretta 90two. He turned to face the clerk, keeping his face smooth and emotionless, "Mr. Pomeroy, you forgot your card."

"Oh, ah…" Bane said slowly, taking the card from the clerk's hand, "ah, thank you."

He left the store quickly, without another glance at either the clerk or the card nestled in the palm of his hand. Outside, he walked several blocks away from the store before stopping and sitting on a bus stop bench, holding his head as he realized that he'd been ready to kill the clerk had he made a wrong move.

A bus suddenly stopped in front of him, the sound of it breaking it from his thoughts. He quickly shook his head at the driver, who made an obscene gesture towards him before continuing on his route, and stood from the bench. He looked across the street at the derelict courtyard of the high school, surprised at how empty it looked despite the fact that it was currently full of students. Idly he wondered what it would have been like, to attend school, to spend time with people who were both similar and vastly different than himself. Not for the first time did he curse his father for doing this to him, experimenting on him as though he were just another test subject. The red eyes were hard enough to hide as it was, but without proper social skills and other things that most kids took for granted, he had little hope of making friends or having any semblance of a normal life.

He stood staring at the school until suddenly the bell rung, signaling the lunch hour as the teenagers came pouring out of the building. He was about to walk away when he saw her, his blonde haired beauty walking out the doors to stand by a tree a little ways away from everyone else as though she were waiting for someone.

Bane could only stand there and stare at her, trying to tell himself to walk forward, talk to her, be friends with her, do something that would make her see that he was alive. He stopped himself short, however, realizing that he couldn't have the liberty to indulge in a senseless teenage crush. _Besides,_ he thought, _she probably has a boyfriend or something. How could someone that beautiful not already have a boyfriend?_

He watched as a boy with dark auburn hair walked up to the girl, greeting her with a warm hug as he talked to her. Bane shrugged and finally found the will to look away, wishing that someday, maybe, he could have something like that.

* * *

"Have you seen her yet?" Rayne asked Chelsey, hugging her quickly as he joined her under the tree.

"No Rayne, I haven't seen her yet. Just calm down for god's sake." Chelsey told him, staring across the street to the bus stop where she could have sworn she saw a man staring at her.

"Shit, where the hell is she?" Rayne said impatiently.

"She'll be here dude, she always is, no matter how many times I tell the two of you to get a room," She said without sympathy, "and here comes your lovely lady now."

Rayne's head swiveled immediately towards the front doors of the school, watching the petite black curly haired beauty walked towards him, a scowl etched on her face as she dodged around more students milling around the entrance area. He stared into her dark, chocolate eyes as she came closer and closer until she stood right in front of him, grasped his hair at the back of his head and pulled his head down to her and kissed him passionately, causing Chelsey to look away.

"Well, good morning to you too Kat." Chelsey said when she was sure the both of them should have been gasping for breath.

"Sorry Chelsey," Kat replied, turning to her best friend, "I just… I really needed to do that."

"Well don't I feel special." Rayne cracked, earning small smiles from both girls.

"So, where we going for lunch today?" Kat asked softly, hooking arms with both of them.

"Well, figured we just go to the sub place across the street," Rayne replied, "though I wanted to do something first." He pulled something out of his pocket, then held his closed fists towards Kat, "Pick a hand, any hand."

Kat looked at him for a moment, looking into his emerald green eyes for some clue as to what he had, and which hand it was in. Tentatively, she pointed at his right fist then watched as he opened his hand to reveal a long, then golden chain. She felt a small amount of disappointment at first before she noticed the obsidian heart bordered in gold hanging from it. She let out a yelp of joy as he motioned for her to turn around then fastened it at the base of her neck.

"Happy one year anniversary, Katrina" He said softly before she flung her arms around him and kissed him until he was out of breath again.

"What's in the other hand?" Chelsey asked, a tinge of jealousy in her voice.

"A gift for my best friend, of course." Rayne replied easily, opening his left hand to reveal two rose crystal stud earrings that he held out to her.

"What if I had chosen the left hand?" Kat asked, fingering her new necklace as Chelsey changed her earrings.

"I knew you'd pick the right one, you always do."

"Next time I'll choose the left." She said happily, "now let's go get us some lunch."

The other two nodded their agreement as Kat hooked her arm around Rayne's and Chelsey fell into step right behind them, jealous of their relationship. She wished that someday, she could have something like that. _Hmph,_ she thought angrily,

* * *

Thomas Scott was weary. For eight years now he and his hand-picked team of Retrievers had been scouring the continent for any sign of the wayward B-virus carrier. They'd almost had him in Los Angeles six years ago, but the boy who called himself Bane Stryfe killed three of his men before managing to escape them once again, disappearing entirely. It'd taken them the last three years to finish covering most cities in the United States, and the president of Parasol Enterprises had sent them into Canada to continue the search.

He drove down the road in his pickup truck, trying to find his way back to the Parasol office building situated in the middle of the city. It had been an Umbrella office, and when they went out of business, Parasol quickly refurbished the building and re-opened it, offering the city badly needed jobs. He had stopped here in Munin to rest for a couple days before heading north to Edmonton to rendezvous with his Retrievers.

He had a coffee cup nestled in his lap as he tried to flatten out a road map across his passenger seat. He wasn't paying attention as a young man and woman started crossing the street, followed closely by another young woman.

Bane was taking one last longing look at the blonde-haired girl when he saw the truck barreling towards the three teens. He knew that even if he shouted a warning, the girl wouldn't move in time so he ran as fast as he possibly could, pushing the girl into her friends a split second before the truck crumpled in around him, forcing him back only several inches as he stood his ground. A piece of metal wrenched itself off the truck and slashed towards Bane's face, making him flinch in pain as it scratched his face and knocked his sunglasses off.

Thomas managed to lift his head from the airbag that had deployed, his head pounding with pain as he stared out his window to see what he hit. He froze as he saw the man's red eyes, staring into his own with unbridled wrath. The sight of those eyes frightened him, scared him more than anything else in his entire life. He found himself shivering with cold as the eyes turned away from him, focusing on the three teens on the side of the road, also staring at the man with the glowing red eyes.

"Shit." Bane murmured, knowing the sight of his eyes would scare them so he turned away, picking up his sunglasses and putting them back on before turning to leave when he felt a hand on his arm.

"Wait." Chelsey said, brushing gravel from her pants as she turned Bane to face her, "who are you?"

"Nobody you should know." Bane replied coldly, the unfamiliar situation forcing him to become defensive.

"Why did you save me?" She asked, confused.

"Because I could." He said shortly, resisting the bodily urge to tear his arm out of her grasp.

"But how in the hell did you survive that?" Kat exclaimed from behind Rayne, clearly frightened of him.

"That's for me to know and you not to." He said, pulling easily out of Chelsey's grip and preparing to run.

"Wait," Chelsey repeated, reaching out to grab him again but stopping at the look on his face, "Thank you for saving me."

Unused to kindness from anyone, Bane curtly nodded before running away.

"Shit! What the hell was that?" Rayne said, staring after the strange man.

"I've seen him before," Chelsey replied, "he tends to hang out around here a lot, always wearing the same clothes and with those glasses on, though now we know why."

"How the hell can you be so calm about this shit?" Kat asked, "you were almost killed."

"Yeah, but I wasn't, was I?" She replied, then turned her head as she heard the police and ambulance sirens in the distance. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here." She said when they heard a scraping of metal. They looked back at the truck and saw the driver get out, stare at them for a moment, then take off in the opposite direction the sirens were coming from.

"I concur," Rayne said quickly, "let's get outta here."

"You guys go," Chelsey said softly, "I'm going after him."

"Which one? The driver?" Kat asked, surprised.

"No… the survivor."

* * *

Thomas ran from the accident scene, heading away from the coming sirens. He slowed down to a walk several blocks away, going over everything he'd seen in his mind, the way the truck folded around the kid, how his eyes glowed as he had met the kid's gaze, and how he managed to run away after getting hit by a truck going 50 mph.

He mingled in with the pedestrians, wiping the blood from his forehead with his sleeve as he looked around for a phone booth. Spotting an empty one nearby, he eased his way over to it and stepped inside, closing the door behind him and picking up the receiver before swiping his encoded card in the phone card slot. Immediately the line was picked up, a gruff voice saying a single word.

"What?"

"Retriever 057 with emergency report, access 8441425A." Thomas replied softly, the urgency in his voice almost tangible.

"One moment." The gruff voice said, followed by several minutes of silence.

"Report." A female voice commanded suddenly, startling him as he began his report.

"Ma'am, I've located the Subject B-008 in Munin, Alberta," He said quickly, "Please advice how we should proceed."

"Has the Subject's presence been confirmed?" She asked suspiciously.

"Yes ma'am, I hit him with my truck and saw his eyes."

"Very well Retriever 057, report to Parasol office at 11405 32 St. and await further instructions."

"Yes ma'am." Thomas replied to dead air, the woman having already hung up.

He followed suit, exiting the phone booth and quickly hailing a taxi. Impatiently he gave the driver the address, then sat back in the seat, congratulating himself on a job well done.

* * *

Chelsey followed the path of bewildered pedestrians to find the man who'd saved her. Several times she'd been forced to ask people if they'd seen him, and number of times the people couldn't tell her, but eventually she got pointed in the direction of the derelict buildings that was once the cities nicest apartments, but that was a long time ago. She remembered playing around these aging buildings when she was just a child, but they'd been condemned for the last ten years. She crawled through a hole in the chain link fence that surrounded the area and headed towards the middle building, the only one that looked like you could go inside.

She was about to reach it when a movement to her side startled her and she spun, suddenly facing five tall men with dark clothes and sunglasses on. Two of them had their noses pierced multiple times and the one in front of the rest had a long jagged scar running from his temple to his chin.

"Well, well, well," Scar-face said, playing with a long butterfly knife as the others crowded around behind him, "looks like somebody decided to deliver."

"I don't want any trouble." Chelsey said quickly, backing away from the men, "I'm just looking for a guy that lives around here, medium height, red hair, dark sunglasses, you seen him?"

"Maybe we have, and maybe we haven't," Scar-face replied, "what're you offing for said information?"

"Dude," one of the pierced men said quietly, scratching his half-formed beard, "she's looking for Stryfe, maybe we shouldn't bother her."

"Shut up!" another of the men said, this one with a long scar across his throat, "who cares about her or him? We haven't had something this sweet in a long, long time."

"Umm, I'll just leave, I'm sorry to have bothered you." Chelsey said, turning and beginning to run but Scar-face reached out and grabbed her arm, twisting hard as he pulled her to him.

"Now you aren't going to refuse our hospitality, are you little lady?" He said as he pulled her close, closing his lips where her shoulder met her neck.

"No, let me go!" She cried, struggling against him as the other men just laughed at her plight.

"I got next." The bearded one said, licking his lips as he thought of all the things he could do to her until the other pierced one smacked him in the head.

"Hell no, she's mine next!" He said as the bearded man grasped him by the throat.

"Fuck you both!" The throat scar man said, grabbing them both by the head and smashing them together. "She's mine next."

"Let me go!" Chelsey screamed as Scar-face began to rip her pants off.

"One of you shut her up!" He commanded as he held both her wrists in one hand and tried to undo his pants with the other.

"I got a perfect something to shut her up." Throat-scar said in his gravely voice, unzipping his own pants. Just as he was about to pull out his organ he made a strange gurgling sound that made everyone look at him, staring at the tip of a knife protruding from his throat.

"Oh I'm sorry," Bane said as he pulled the knife out of the man's neck and wiped the blade across the dead man's shirt to get rid of the blood, "were you all in the middle of something? I can come back later."

"Get him!" Scar-face roared as he finished tearing Chelsey's pants off, pulling down her panties and preparing to enter her.

The four men rushed Bane who threw the knife without aiming, taking Pierced-nose in the eye before spinning and kicking out, catching the bearded man in the kneecap and shattering it. The other two froze for a moment, giving Bane plenty of time to grab one of their necks and snap it easily before turning to the other one and punching him in the gut. The man doubled over in pain, breathless, as Bane grabbed his head and kneed him hard, knocking him to the ground, unconscious.

"See, now that was rude. No wonder no one bothers with manners any more." Bane quipped, staring at the panicked look on Chelsey's face. Silently she pleaded him to help her, to save her.

"Who the hell are you?" Scar-face said, throwing Chelsey from him and doing up his pants. Chelsey landed heavily on the ground, too shocked to try to find her ruined pants and cover up.

"You know who I am," Bane replied, pulling his knife out of the man's eye, "Or did you forget our last meeting?"

"Fuck you!" He screamed, pulling out a small revolver from the small of his back. Bane reacted faster than Chelsey could watch, pulling his own gun from behind his back. Scar-face shot twice, but Bane easily dodged both shots before returning one of his own, hitting the man high in the shoulder. The force of impact cause him to spin, falling to the ground as blood began to spill out of the wound. As he lay on the ground, he aimed the gun at Chelsey, smiling and laughing as he pulled the trigger.

"Fuckin' bitch." He managed as he pulled the trigger two more times.

Bane watched the bullets leap from the revolver as if they were moving in slow motion. Moving as quickly as he could, he knelt in front of the girl as the first bullet reached them, imbedding itself into his back. He grimaced in pain as he lifted the girl out of the path of the last two bullets, one missing him and striking the pavement, the other grazing his lower calf. Looking back at the men, he hefted Chelsey in one hand and collected his knife and gun, putting a bullet into the two who'd been knocked unconscious, killing them, before holstering the weapon and carrying Chelsey into the building, laying her on his makeshift bed as she blacked out.


	4. Chapter 3

**Resident Evil: The Bane Virus**

**Chapter 3**

**October 28, 2006 – 13:35**

Bane laid the girl's motionless body on his makeshift bed, the bottom mattress protesting slightly at the weight of two people. Gently he pulled his arms out from underneath her and stood, gazing at her beautiful face. He kneeled down beside her in a daze, as if her mere presence intoxicated him, making him watch to touch her, to run his hands across her beautiful skin. Idly he brushed a few stray strands of hair off of her face, when suddenly her eyes opened wide and her fist flew up to smack him square in the jaw, throwing him off balance and throwing him to the floor.

He recovered quickly and stood, every muscle of his body telling him to fight back, to attack this adversary but his mind refused to allow it. Instead he stood there as the girl's eyes widened as she held her fist to her chest, staring at the man whom she'd just struck.

"I-I am so sorry, I didn't mean to hit you," Chelsey said quickly, "I just thought I was still down t-there with those assholes w-who attacked me and I t-thought it was one of them and I am so so so sorry."

"It's alright chickie." He told her, rubbing his jaw. It wasn't as if she'd actually hurt him, he just wanted to relish that fact that she had touched him.

She looked about to say more, but she never opened her mouth as she finally seemed to realize that her pants were still missing. Reaching to the side she grabbed the sheet she guessed he must use as a blanket and covered herself with it, trying not to blush. She took time to study her new surroundings as Bane pulled his blood-stained shirt off, examining the hole in the back. Without a word he tossed it away from him, then shut his eyes and began to concentrate. Chelsey looked up to see what he was doing and saw a hole in his bare back. As she watched, horrified, the skin around the wound began to pulsate. Blood spurted out of the wound before something larger began to force it's way out, the object landing on the floor with a small thud. Chelsey couldn't tell what it was at first, the mangled metal not looking like something she'd seen before, but then she realized that it was the bullet that had been shot at them. She gasped as more blood dripped down his back, before the wound sealed over with a thin layer of skin, leaving it and the area around it pink and raw.

"W-what are you?" She gasped, unable to take her eyes from the drops of blood that fell to the floor beside the mangled bullet.

It wasn't so much what she said but the fear in her voice when she said it that angered him. Before she realized it he was beside her, the barrel of he Beretta resting against her head and his finger twitching on the trigger.

"You'd best be careful what you say, chickie." He said softly, dangerously as Chelsey shook uncontrollably. Tears sprang to her eyes as he held the gun steady, part of him telling him to pull the trigger, to dump the body and get out of town. But he couldn't, he couldn't hurt her. Whatever this feeling inside of him was, it refused to allow him to do anything to her.

He held the gun to her head when suddenly she stopped shaking, sitting up straight with her eyes red and puffy, but dry. She turned towards him so the gun was aimed right between her eyes, thoughts and feelings flitting across the glossy green orbs. Then her eyes narrowed, staring past the gun into his eyes through the dark shades, scowling angrily at him.

"Then don't call me 'chickie' and answer the fucking question as if it were phrased in a way that didn't offend you and get that fucking gun away from me!" She finally said, all traces of fear fading from her voice to be replaced with anger. Bane stared at her once again, unable to believe the hidden strength to be found in this young lady. Less than an hour ago she'd been almost hit by a truck, chased after the man who'd saved her, almost been raped, and passed out while being shot at only to wake up in a strange room with a strange man.

Without another word he turned away from her, clicking the safety on the gun and holstering it. He began searching around the room until he found another black tank top, slightly more faded than the one he'd been wearing before, and put it on before turning back to the girl.

"My name is Bane," he said finally, pausing for a long time before continuing, "Bane Stryfe. I am – was a test subject for the Umbrella Corporation."

"A – a test subject?" Chelsey echoed, confused, "so what, after all the infestations they decided to make some kind of super-human hero guys or something?"

"Not in the least," he replied with a dry, humorless chuckle, "more like they're creating a near-invincible army capable of… essentially taking over the world. Think of me as the… prototype I guess you could say."

"But what did they do to you? And why would you let them?"

"It's not like I really had a choice in the matter." He began, sitting on the mattress beside her. He recounted his entire story, including almost every detail that he could possible remember about the escape from the mansion and his years of scavenging in so many different cities he wanted to lose count. He told her about the virus inside of him and about his father, and what he did to his mother, everything. For the first time in his life he was able to sit and talk about all that had happened to him. As soon as he started it was like a floodgate within him had opened and everything inside of him came flowing out in a torrential downpour.

"I'm sorry." He said after the several minutes of silence that followed his dirge, "I'm so sorry. Here I am, casting my problems on someone I just met and I don't even know your name."

"I'm Chelsey Angelynd," She replied quickly, holding her hand out to him, "High school student, pathetic comedian and hopeless romantic……."

They were silent for a while, Bane still clasping her hand. He didn't seem to realize he was doing it until he abruptly let go of her and stood from the bed, walking to the far corner of the room.

"I… you should head home, back to your boyfriend." He said softly, refusing to look at her.

"I don't have a boyfriend," She told him, "Have you seen most of the boys in my school? They're so childish that I don't even want to see them never mind try to go out with them."

"What about the boy you were with today?"

"Who, Rayne? Nah, I just live with him. Besides, he loves his little Kitty Kat." She replied, jealousy dripping from her voice.

"Jealous of her?" Bane commented, sarcasm filling his tone.

"Not because she has Rayne," She replied softly after a few minutes of thinking, "but because the two of them have such a great relationship…. Though Rayne is a little on the weird side."

"Why do you say that?"

"He likes to wear women's clothing." She said matter-of-factly, waiting for the usual reaction.

"Is that all?" Bane said easily, "it's not that big a deal."

"Most people seem to think that it is."

Bane was silent, realizing that he had just been having a normal conversation with the girl of his dreams. He realized that he was happy… until reality caught up with him and he realized that he had to get the girl away from him, he had to make her forget about him.

"Anyway," he said, "you need to get out of here. Head home to your friends."

"What if I don't want to?" She asked, "what if I want to stay here with you?"

"Please just leave lady… Chelsey. It'll make things a lot easier."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm still on the run, I can't stay in one place very long. I have to get moving." He told her, "Now get going home."

"No," She argued, standing and moving to him. She wrapped her arms around him as she continued, "I want to stay here with you. You saved my life, twice, the least I could do is keep you company."

Bane couldn't find anything to say to that, mostly because he really wanted her to stay with him. He wanted to be near her all the time, the feelings she bought out in him different than anything he'd ever felt before.

"Fine," He agreed finally, resisting the urge to throw her from him. Images flowed through his head, images of bloodshed and war, horrifying and grotesque, but as she held him the images began to go away, began to dissipate until there was nothing but her, "You can stay the night, but you have to get to school in the morning."

"No problem." She agreed enthusiastically, "now, tell me more about yourself."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

**October 29, 2006 – 05:30**

Carl stood in the only source of light in the room, trying hard to see through the darkness to see who had summoned him here, but to no avail. He knew that the Parasol brass were paranoid, but he never expected that they would have a room that looked like it was straight out of bad movie.

"Do you know what you've been brought here, Dr. Trevor?" a deep, haughty male voice echoed through the room

"I do not." He replied, standing tall and proud, refusing to be cowed by these… bureaucrats.

"The mistake you made twenty years ago has been found." A female voice said loudly.

"Bane? You mean you actually found him?" Carl exclaimed, then quickly calmed down as he was wondering why they had chosen to tell him.

"Yes," was the answer from a new voice, not deep but still undeniably male with a slight English accent, "We have reviewed the data and have decided that this subject, henceforth known as Subject B-008, may be an asset if he can be captured and used to our advantage. You, Dr. Trevor, are here to convince us that we should go through every effort to retrieve the subject, instead of just destroying another mistake that could come back to bite us in the ass."

"Afterwards, this council will vote on the decision." Another female voice, this one with an unrecognizable accent, announced.

Carl remained silent, thinking hard about what kind of arguments he could give to save his son's life. He knew that if he tried to appeal to their good nature, the entire thing would most likely backfire on him, causing them to vote against his son. His mind raced, trying to find a reason to save the boy that would be good for business, when it suddenly hit him.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the Parasol board," he began, "When I first began to test the Bane Virus, I had many failures. The only way, it seemed, for the virus to properly bond with it's intended host was during embryo development, before the child's DNA is completed and set for the rest of their life. Yet even when this method is applied the subject rarely works out in accordance to your hopes.

"Subject B-008, on the other hand, is the perfect specimen. The virus causes disastrous results in most of the previous specimens, but not in him. The question is why? Why did the virus affect him so differently than the rest?

"In truth, we will never truly know why, but I hypothesize that when I discovered the virus, it was an incomplete strand, unperfected. In order for it to become whole, the virus needed to find a… incubator if you will. It was pure chance that the virus would find a suitable host in my son, that he would be the one to complete, or perfect, the virus, but it happened. Capturing Subject B-008 is in your best interests because with him, we can create what you were always hoping to make of the Bane virus. You can have a perfected strain and the perfect subject to do with as you please."

The Board conferred quietly for what seemed like hours to him, the whole time he pleaded silently for his success.

"Dr. Trevor, you gave an impressive speech, and we have decided that it is in our best interests to recover the Subject, but you will not be in charge of either the retrieval operation, nor of any further hands-on Bane Virus research," The woman with the accent announced finally, "You will be allowed to keep track of the research, and do any of the work we decide to allow you too, however you will not be allowed contact with the subject, or the virus for that matter. Is that understood?"

"Yes ma'am." He replied, anger and joy warring inside of him.

"Furthermore, Dr. Trevor," The first voice said, "while we will make every attempt to capture him whole, the important thing is to bring back a blood sample for the virus. The city in which he was found will be infected and quarantined, and teams will be sent in to retrieve the subject.

"We have work to do, as do you, Dr. Trevor, you are dismissed."

With that all light faded from the room, leaving him in pitch darkness until a small spotlight suddenly lit up in front of him, blinding him as it shone upon the door behind him. Knowing that there was nothing more he could do, he reluctantly left the room, hoping they'd be able to capture his wayward son.

* * *

Rayne awoke in the morning to his cell phone again, rolling over to turn it off when something in the bed got in his way. He opened his eyes and saw Kat beside him, still sleeping, her hair splayed out on the pillow around her head. He stared at her as the phone continued to go off, finally waking her as she opened her eyes to meet his own.

"Hey there beautiful." He said softly, earning a smile.

"Turn off the damned alarm dumbass." She said softly, playfully as he reached over her to grab the phone and turn it off.

"Whatever you say My Lady." He retorted softly, leaning in for a kiss from his beautiful girlfriend. It took a couple minutes before Kat pulled away, slowly getting out of the bed.

"C'mon love, we've gotta get to school." She told him, draping the bed sheet sensually over herself as she stood from the bed, turning back to look at the man she loved. She gazed upon his half-naked body and smiled coyly, loving the look of his body, "I think that you should go get breakfast ready while I get dressed."

"Aww, do I have to?"

"Yes, you do." She told him with a smile, helping him up and pushing him to the door.

Rayne sighed loudly as she forced him out the door, then closed it behind him. Shaking his head, he walked down the hallway, pausing outside Chelsey's room and peeking his head in. He saw the empty bed and began to worry about his friend, wondering why she didn't come home last night. Trying to remain calm he headed downstairs and prepared breakfast for him and Kat, serving it as she came down the stairs, dressed in a pair of jeans and short sleeved blouse. They ate with small conversation, Rayne returning to his room to dress before he drove the both of them to school, parking in his usual spot and walking Kat to her class.

After saying goodbye to her he peeked into Chelsey's first class but found her desk empty, worrying him further. Something was going on with her, and he was almost positive it had something to do with that man from yesterday. That man who'd demolished a car and saved Chelsey, that man with the horrible, haunting red eyes, that man who disappeared without a trace.

_She'd better show up at lunch, _he decided, _if not I'll have to go looking for her._ With that decision he tried to focus on his schoolwork, but his mind kept coming back to the man with the red eyes.

At lunch he hurried outside to meet with Kat, expecting to see Chelsey in their usual spot but as he exited the school he froze, surprised etched on his face. There in their usual meeting place was Chelsey, wearing a pair of pants that were too big for her, and the man with the eyes, covered with a pair of dark sunglasses. He couldn't make himself move forward as he stared at the man, his fear filling his mind as he remembered the look in his eyes yesterday. He jumped in surprise when Kat ran right to the two of them by the tree, obviously fine with the stranger as she enthusiastically introduced herself.

Sighing loudly, he walked over to them slowly, nodding to the girls before he focused his gaze on the newcomer.

"I'm Rayne, Rayne Armitage," He said, holding his hand out. Bane stared at him a moment before taking the offered hand, nodding politely.

"Bane Stryfe." He replied, shaking the hand firmly.

"Well, with that out of the way, let's get some lunch." Chelsey said quickly, knowing that her friends might be a little uncomfortable around Bane.

"Sounds good, I'm starving," Kat told her, hooking her arm in Rayne's as both he and Bane nodded their agreements, "hey look, they both know how to nod, I'll bet they get to be fast friends."

Chelsey and Kat fell into laughter at that as Rayne chuckled lightly. Bane's mouth merely flickered, as if he was trying to smile but couldn't, so he stopped trying. A kind look on her face, Chelsey hooked her arm into his and patted him lightly on the cheek as they started walking, Chelsey leading them away from the school.

* * *

Thomas hung up the phone with a smile, glad that something had finally been decided. Not only that, but he was to be in charge of the team sent to capture the wayward subject. He knew that he was up for it, but he wasn't sure if his team was. The last of them had arrived this morning, pushing his plans forward. The company was going to set bombs in several strategic locations of the city, the resulting explosions causing samples of both the T-Virus and the G-virus to be spread throughout the city. While the infection of Raccoon City had been accidental, it had taught them that the virus spread too slowly when leaked in secret outside the city. The Fenrir infection, on the other hand, was released on purpose and had a much quicker rate of infection after a bomb had gone off in the center of the city, releasing the viruses. In less than a week the majority of the city had been infected, only the STARS members and several other civilians escaping the city with their lives before the city was cleanse of the infection in the same way as Raccoon City. This time they wanted the job done quicker and had tweaked the viruses to act over five times faster than normal, causing an infected person to change in less than an hour.

Their plan was to capture the subject prior to the infection, then use the catastrophe to make a fast getaway and clean up any loose ends that may arise. All in all, he decided, it was a simple yet effective plan that he would carry out to the best of his abilities.

"Hey boss, have we got the orders yet?" A voice broke through his thoughts, causing Thomas to look up and see Aidan, his second in command, standing in his doorway.

"Yeah," he replied, "we're to capture the subject and make out getaway during the infection."

Thomas had never really liked Aidan much, but time and time again the man had proven himself an able retriever. Yet it seemed to him that Aidan was always trying to prove that he was better than his boss. That, and he had the sneaking suspicion that he took his orders from someone else as well, most likely a member of the Parasol elite, they were notorious for having several… watchdogs to keep an eye on their employee's goings on.

"So when do we get started boss?" Aidan asked.

"Right away. Get half the team and ready the holding cell, I'll take the other half and go to the high school, that's where I found him the other day." Thomas replied, waving Aidan away as he prepared to meet his other teammates. It was only a matter of time before he would capture the boy, and then claim his reward.


	5. Chapter 4

**Resident Evil: The Bane Virus**

**Chapter 4**

**October 29, 2006 – 21:53**

Bane left the house with Chelsey leading him to the front gate, walking in silence. As they reached the tall, concrete wall she opened the small doorway and ushered him through, following him until they both stood just outside the walls.

"Thank you for spending time with my friends." Chelsey told him softly, giving him a beautiful smile.

"I just hope I didn't scare them too much, or bother them." Bane replied, managing a small smile.

"I know it's different for you, you've never had the chance to social, never mind any need to, so it's kinda nice to see you trying." She told him, leaning forward and kissing him softly on the lips. He immediately backed away, for the first time in his life feeling real fear.

"I-I'm sorry," Chelsey stuttered immediately, "I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that, please f-" Bane cut her off by surging forward and kissed her passionately, the need, the urge to kiss her all but diminishing the fear. He kissed her for so long his lungs were starting to burn with the need for air, but he didn't care. This was it, this is what he'd always wished for.

Suddenly she pushed away from him, a hunger in her eyes that she was trying with all her might to hold back. She stood there and stared at him, unable to trust her own voice right now.

"Chelsey…. Please don't be afraid." Bane pleaded softly, hanging his head and refusing to look her in the eye.

"I'm not afraid Bane," She replied softly, "I want more… but not yet. Please, promise you'll meet me at the school tomorrow at lunch."

"I promise," he replied honestly, "I promise that nothing on this planet will stop me from meeting you tomorrow."

With one last fleeting kiss, she disappeared back inside the gates, leaving Bane alone on the street. With a wide smile he began a slow walk back to his hideout, resisting the urge to start skipping through the darkness. Finally, finally something had actually gone right with his life. He was in love, and she seemed to feel the exact same about him. Finally he could have the life that his father had denied him from birth, and he wasn't going to let anyone ruin it.

Suddenly a noise behind him made him stop and crouch, taking off his sunglasses and scanning the darkness with his luminous eyes, his night vision with the shades just as good as his vision during the day. Nothing stirred in the dead night, and he cautiously continued on his way, creeping silently as he watched his surroundings. Without warning a figure charged him from the shadows, throwing a punch at his head that Bane easily blocked, countering with a punch to his attacker's gut. He followed through, kicking high and catching the man in the head, throwing him roughly to the pavement. A second attacker came up with a knife, stabbing at Bane's gut. He jumped back, and swept his arm down, pushing the knife-arm away before bringing his other arm down and under, shoving it upwards into the man's gut and lifting him off his feet before he fell to the ground several feet away, vomiting hard. A gun shot broke the silence of the night as Bane felt the bullet enter his arm. With a grimace of pain he searched for the shooter, wishing that he hadn't decided to leave his own gun at his hideout. He found the shooter and dived forward before they could take another shot, rolling to his feet and putting his fist into the man's groin before twisting and throwing his elbow into the shooter's face, putting him down hard. He stood and waited for the next attack, but it didn't come, making him wonder if there were any more surprises.

Studying the fallen man at his feet, he picked up the gun and examined it, recognizing it as Taurus PT 99 handgun. He checked the magazine, noticing that there were 11 rounds left before slamming it back into place. He was about to continue on his way when something about the gun caught his attention. The civilian models of the Taurus could only hold up to 10 rounds, yet this held 11 with shots already fired. Shaking his head, he decided to worry about where the man had gotten the gun later, and worry about staying alive and free for now.

He started running, hoping to make it back to the hideout but instead almost ran into four more armed men, these one's each packing assault rifles. The men seemed just as startled as he was as only one of them managed to level his rifle toward him. Before he could fire Bane kicked the gun upwards and surged forward, grasping the barrel and ripping the rifle out of the gunner's hands, tossing it to the side as he shifted to take a rifle butt to the shoulder, kicking out at the man who'd just hit him before lashing out to the side and hitting a third man in the jaw, sending him to the ground as the fourth aimed his rifle for Bane's leg, firing a three round burst that Bane just barely managed to avoid. The first man pulled out a long combat knife to replace the rifle, holding the knife with the blade downwards, the sharp end facing Bane as if he actually knew how to use the weapon. He swung up and forward, Bane leaning back to avoid having the steel cut across his face before dropping down and sweeping his leg across the ground, causing the knifeman to fall. He surged up to grab the fourth rifleman by the shoulders, swinging his head forward and smashing it against the man's nose causing it to break with a loud crack followed by a scream as he dropped the rifle and fell to his knees. The other rifleman attacked again, swinging the butt of the gun at Bane's head but he ducked under it and threw his arm up, causing the attacker to lose his grip on the weapon and sending it sailing through the air. In a panic the man attacked again, throwing a punch that Bane easily parried with his left arm then threw a right hook that missed the man by scant millimeters as he ducked under the blow. The attacker countered with a kick that connected with Bane's gut but it didn't faze him as he threw another hook into the man's side and followed it by grabbing the man's arm and pulling him closer, head butting him twice before letting him go. The man managed to stay on his feet as he tried to find his bearings, surprising Bane as the knifeman got to his feet, minus the knife, and ran at Bane who spun and sidestepped, stepping forward and throwing his elbow out at just the right moment to catch the man in the throat with tremendous force, throwing him back several feet as he gurgled through his crushed windpipe. Pain screamed through Bane's back as the last man standing attacked again, stabbing a long combat knife deep into his back. He spun and faced his adversary, easily blocking a second attack before grabbing the man's arm again and twisting it savagely behind his back, snapping it. The man screamed for a second before turning to face Bane again, the knife in his good hand. He rushed Bane who grabbed the man's arm and moved it away from him then flat-palmed the man in the nose with enough force that it shoved the bone cartilage into his brain, instantly killing him.

For the second time he stopped and listened to everything around him, waiting for the next attack to come. When it didn't he scavenged the fallen weapons, unable to recognize what kind of rifles they had been using on him. Pain in his back reminded him of the knife wound there, and the bullet in his arm. Concentrating hard, he failed to hear footsteps softly approach him from behind. As he healed his wounds, another burst of pain entered his back, but this one was different. Mere seconds after the pain appeared it diminished, leaving an odd, foggy feeling in it's midst. He reached back to find the source of the pain and pulled what looked like a dart out of his back as he began to loose feeling in his limbs. He brought the dart up to his eyes for examination, but couldn't lift his arms anymore. Suddenly his legs buckled and his chin hit the ground hard as the darkness of the night finally engulfed him.

* * *

**October 30, 2006 – 12:18**

Chelsey bounded down the steps outside the school, giddy as a… well, schoolgirl. She looked longingly down toward the bus stop, hoping to see a solitary figure, but he wasn't there. She stopped short, almost tripping another student who had to dodge around her and maintain his balance. She stood stock still and stared at the spot, wondering why he wasn't there. Had she scared him off the night before? Had he changed his mind? Had he decided to leave town already? Because of her? She began to pant heavily, her vision clouding as the panic attack started to consume her. Suddenly an arm around her shoulder brought her back to her senses and she began to breath again. She looked to her side to see Rayne looking at her with concern.

"You okay girl?" He asked her softly as Kat appeared on her other side.

"He's…. he's not here… where is he?" Chelsey gasped as soon as she could find her voice.

"What do you mean?" Rayne asked.

"He was supposed to meet me here!" She almost screamed as tears sprung from her eyes.

"Maybe he just had something else to do or something," Kat said trying to calm her down, "maybe he's out looking for a nice present for you or something."

"I-I want to go home," Chelsey said to Rayne, "please just take me home now."

"Chelsey you'll miss cla-" Rayne began before Chelsey cut him off.

"Now!" She did scream this time, causing all of the students around them to stop and stare as Rayne turned bright red.

"Alright, alright, no need to yell," He muttered as the spectators went on about their business, "Jesus… crazy broad."

"Thank you Rayne." Chelsey said as she headed towards the car, Kat and Rayne following her.

The ride home was uneventful and quiet, the silence almost bearing down on them as thoughts roared through Chelsey's mind. She let herself into the house as the other two returned to the school, leaving her alone in her misery. She tried to calm herself as she wandered through the house aimlessly, trapped within herself. She ended up in her bedroom, laying down on the bed and shutting her eyes hard in a vain attempt to stop the tears from flowing. All she could think was that he didn't want to be with her, he didn't feel the same way. She shook her head to clear those thoughts, trying to push her mind in another direction, one with less self-loathing.

Then a new thought sprang to her head, one that she clung to for dear sanity. She remembered him saying that Parasol was after him, and maybe that car accident the other day had led them right to him. That thought branched into two others, either that he had found that he'd been discovered and had to leave before they could catch him, or he had been caught and either killed or kept by the company, preventing him from meeting her.

In a hurry she ran to her computer before really thinking about what she was going to do. She opened an internet browser and started searching through Parasol's main website, slicking on several other pages before she came to realize that it was highly doubtful that the company would post a notice about it finally recapturing an escaped test subject on it's public site. She stopped and breathed heavily for several minutes, slowing down her mind and trying to think rationally. She pulled up another internet browser and started checking the local news pages, thinking that maybe something had happened last night that would give her a clue as to if Bane had been captured yet after two hours of browsing every article on the site she found nothing.

Sitting back in the chair, she put her face in her hands and sobbed loudly, not knowing what to do. There was nothing she could do, not to help him or even try to find him. By the time her tears stopped her eyes were red and burning, the small amount of makeup she'd applied this morning streaking her face black. Finally she got up and headed back into her bedroom, laying on the bed and clutching at her favorite stuffed animal, a large white rabbit with fur more comfortable than her own pillows. Eventually she drifted off into a tormented and troubled sleep.

* * *

**21:42**

Thomas supervised the placing and arming of the first bomb of seven that were to be planted, filled with large samples of the modified virus. For the first hour after the explosions, the viruses would be airborne but after that hour would dissipate, making the only way of infection through bites and scratches from already infected individuals. If all went according to plan, the city would wake up with no knowledge of the horror they were to face.

* * *

"Yes sir, they intend to deliver the package to Parasol HQ in Europe, to continue their tests." Aidan said quietly into his earpiece, knowing that if anyone knew what he was doing, he'd be dead in a heartbeat.

"Did you retrieve the blood sample as you were instructed?" A deep voice replied.

"Yes sir I did sir," Aidan replied quickly, eagerly, "I will deliver it to you in person."

"No," The voice said emotionlessly, "you will hand it over to my agent when they arrive there tonight."

"B-but sir, I thought I was to carry this to the end? Wasn't that the plan?"

"You will do what I tell you Mr. Quinn, or our agreement will end… abruptly."

"Y-yes sir." Aidan said, chastised.

"Now as I was saying, you will hand the sample to my agent tonight, you will know who it is then you meet them."

"As you command sir" He replied but found that he was talking to dead air. Shaking his head, he reached into his pocket and felt the vial there, already thinking how he was going to spend the money that he'd earned. All he had to do now was keep quiet and play his part and he was guaranteed a place in the new world when the shit hit the fan.

* * *

**October 31, 2006 – 04:14**

The streets were empty and dark as the truck pulled up to the corner. The man got out of the cab and walked around to the back, grabbing a large bundle and approaching the newspaper dispenser on the corner. Sighing loudly, the man used a quarter to open the machine, then threw the bundle of papers inside, heading back to his truck to drive to the next stop. Suddenly the world around him exploded in a burst of sound and heat, throwing him so hard against his own truck that his spine was shattered. His last sight was a gout of flame, speeding towards him.

All over the city more bombs went off, explosions that were loud for a split second then oddly faded away quickly without a trace, leaving nothing but destruction, dead bodies, and perplexed neighbors in their wake.

Some time passed before a young man, blown several meters away by the blast from one of the bombs, made several attempts to get to his feet. Finally he managed, a gaping hole in his hip causing his walk to be lopsided as he shambled away from the scene. His sightless eyes stared unblinkingly forward as he made his way past building after building, eventually finding his way to Munin High School.

* * *

**06:30**

"Chelsey? It's time to get up." Kat said softly, peeking into Chelsey's bedroom.

"I'm not going to school today." She replied softly, her eyes still sore from her crying the previous day.

"C'mon Chels, it's Halloween, we've been planning our costumes since last year!" Kat insisted.

"Yeah, and last year I was hoping to have someone to wear that costume for, but it didn't happen, now did it?"

"But you do have someone to wear it for now," Kat argued, letting herself into the room and tearing the covers off of her, "just because Bane wasn't there yesterday doesn't mean that he won't be there today. Don't you think that he'll love to see you in what we've put together?"

"Well… yeah but…. What if he's not there?"

"Then you'll still look really damned hot," Kat replied triumphantly, "now get the hell out of bed!"

"Fine!" Chelsey yelled, getting off her bed, "I'm up now, are you happy?"

"Very," Kat said with a grin, "Now go get yourself ready and me and Rayne will meet you downstairs for breakfast."

"Alright, but I'm having a shower first." She finally agreed as Kat turned and left the room. She sighed loudly before noticing the bag Kat had left on her bed. Taking it she turned it upside down and emptied it onto her bed, allowing the dark clothing to scatter across the mattress.

She smiled grimly as she headed to the bathroom, quickly shaving her legs and armpits before washing, then retreated back to her room with her towel wrapped around her. Again she looked at the clothing in front of her, the costume she and Kat had planned after their plans for last years Halloween had been ruined. She discarded her towel and picked up a pair of black vinyl boy-shorts with attached garters. She loved the underwear especially with their little pink bows that sat at the top of each of the garters. She pulled them on then followed with a pair of black silk stockings, using the garters to keep them up. Next she put on the panties matching bra, made of the same black vinyl with a pink bow situated nicely between the slightly padded cups. She twirled around in front of the mirror several times, admiring herself before she picked up her black PVC pleated miniskirt and put it on, the hem falling a little more than halfway down her thighs. She looked at the items remaining on the bed, grabbing one of the thigh-high heeled boots next, the shiny black PVC gliding up her leg from the bottom of the 6" clunky heel which was slightly offset by a 1" platform on the sole of the boot. She laced it up slowly, enjoying the feel of the vinyl on her skin before doing up the three buckles that decorated the length of the boot. She did the same for the other one before standing again, the boots making her noticeably taller.

She giggled happily at the thought of what Bane would say if he saw her wearing all of this, then began to silently thank Kat for forcing her to do this. It didn't matter if he saw her like this, just wearing the clothing made her feel stronger, better, as if she didn't need a man just to make her feel complete. With that mindset, she reached for the studded black leather choker, fastening it tightly around her neck with matching wristbands around each of her wrists. Next were the boot chains, small chains that went around the ankle over each boot with another chain looping in the depression between the heel and sole.

She stared at the last piece that lay on her bed, the black PVC corset. While most modern day corsets had some way to fasten them in the front so they could be put on and taken off by the wearer, she'd purposely ordered this one without any other way to do it up besides the pink lacing in the back. That's not to say, however, that the front had no decoration. On the front were six pairs of D rings, each pair across from each other with a long pink silk ribbon weaving through them to tie into a nice bow at the top. She loved this corset, loved the look and feel of it, but knew that she would need help putting it on.

"Hey Kat!" She called down, "I need your help." She waited until she saw Kat come up the stairs before retreating back into her room before Kat came in.

"Wow…." Was all Kat could get out of her mouth as she looked at her best friend, "You look…. Amazing."

"You don't look half bad yourself Kitty," Chelsey replied with a smile at the skintight cat suit Kat was wearing, complete with tail and a hair band with cat ears on it. She'd done her own hair so it covered her ears, making the car ears look like they could very much be real.

"All I can say is that Rayne really really likes it." Kat replied with a smile and a wink.

"Let's see if I can get the same reaction from Bane if he sees me today. Now help me with the corset." Chelsey said, holding the article of clothing in question up to her body and turning her back to Kat. Kat slowly, patiently laced up the corset, making sure it wasn't too loose nor too tight, before finishing it with a beautifully elaborate knot.

"You do realize that I won't have a chance of untying this thing with it in a knot like that, don't you?" She said to Kat as she examined Kat's work in the mirror.

"Yup," Kat replied with a smile, "and now there won't be anymore complaining from you… I hope. Now get your ass downstairs."

"Let me just grab my coat and do my makeup, I don't think the teachers at school would appreciate me walking into class like this."

"Very true. But get a move on. We have to leave."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

Aidan hadn't slept all night, waiting for the agent. Everyone that passed by him he'd stare at, wondering if they were the one. Yet they never came, and he was having trouble staying awake.

He hadn't even realized that he'd fallen asleep when a women's voice sounded from behind him.

"I really must speak to him about who he trusts," she mused loudly, "this one can't even stay awake."

"What? No, I wasn't asleep, I was just… resting… my eyes…" He tried to defend himself lamely.

"Whatever, just hand it over."

"Wait, how do I know you're the one?" Aidan asked, his hand already in his picket to retrieve the vial.

"I don't have time for twenty questions right now idiot." The woman snapped quickly, holding her hand out to him.

"Where's my money?"

"Listen kid, whatever you got going with the boss, he takes care of all that, it's not for me to deal with. Just hand over the sample."

"I want my money." Aidan insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Damnit kid, now I've gotta do something I really didn't want to." Without warning, the woman pulled a silenced pistol from a thigh holster beneath her dress and shot once. Aidan felt the bullet enter his chest and went cold, knowing now that he'd been betrayed. He felt the woman digging through his pockets, removing the vial from it's place, "Game over kid… sorry."


End file.
